I know that football is just a game. Nevertheless, I seem rather impuissant to prevent my mood from being affected by the somewhat capricious nature of Arsenal's performances this season. The squandering of last week's four goal lead against Newcastle left me feeling as flat as a pancake. Many Arsenal fans may have drawn some comfort from Man Utd's defeat at Wolves but I did not. Man Utd's loss made the result at Newcastle even harder to bear.
Another week and another Premier League game. Which Arsenal would we see today? Would we see the Arsenal that comprehensively beat Chelsea in December or the Arsenal that lost to the Spuds at the Emirates despite leading 2-0 at half time? In the end, the match turned out to be a rather one sided affair with Arsenal dominating from start to finish. Mick McCarthy was as erudite as ever in his post match interview when he proclaimed that Wolves had been 'completely spanked' by Arsenal. Only a wonder strike by Shrek ensured that the Man United scum maintained their 4 point advantage at the top of the table.
The Original Tangines
The game was followed by dinner at Original Tangines, a Moroccan restaurant not far from Baker's Street. The restaurant is small and there is not much wriggle room as the tables are packed so tightly next to each other. However, the main problem I have with this establishment is that it lacks character and the atmosphere for a Saturday night was rather dour. Our experience was made worse by the rather sour-faced waiter and waitress on duty that evening who gave the impression that they had just returned from a funeral and their attitude to customer service was poor. We were disappointed to be seated at a table right next to the front door and asked if we could be given one further in the restaurant. The waiter apprised us that he could not do so as the restaurant was fully booked that evening and we accepted this explanation. You can imagine our annoyance when we noticed that the tables further in the restaurant were still unoccupied when we asked for the bill at the end of the evening (approximately 22:00-22:30).
The food itself did not live up to much either. The starters of harira soup, grilled hallumi cheese, aubergine zalook and grilled kidney served with mustard sauce were rather plain, both to the eye and to the palate.
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| Harira Soup |
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| Grilled kidneys with mustard sauce |
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| Aubergine zalook |
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| Grilled hallumi cheese |
The main courses did not fare any better. The tangines that we ordered were pretty poor.
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| Prawn tangine |
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| Tangine lamb prunes |
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| Tangine lamb pear |
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| Tangine lamb souss |
For me, I expect dessert to be the highlight of the meal whenever I dine out. The desserts at Original Tangines were frankly uninspiring.
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| Brioates almonds fried in honey |
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| Selection of Moroccan pastries |
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| Flambe caramelised pear |
We finished off the meal with fresh mint tea.
The final bill was around £85 (four people, soft drinks and mineral water only, 50% off food with Tastecard). I have eaten better elsewhere for less.
Food quality 2/10
Presentation 2/10
Service 2/10
Ambience 1/10
Value for money 2/10
Overall 9/50 - Very, very poor.
Original Tangines
7a Dorset Street
London W1U6QN Tel.02079351545
Open every day
11am - 12pm
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